I wouldn't go that far. A Smallwood type of player would add better balance alongside Seri (or Woods) but I wouldn't say Smallwood was a better player than Woods per se - probably about as effective as eachother in that role.
Ah so becasue ashbee was promoted 3 times it makes slater some sort of enigma? Has nothing whatsoever to do with each other Why sign oscar,seri etc We already have tyler smith and woods Let's sell them in jan
Slater is a good squad player for us, but if we are serious about challenging at the top end, he shouldn't be one of the first eleven, the same as coyle/woods/elder/fig/longman etc
I agree with that. But Slater hasn’t been anonymous in recent weeks, which is the statement I was responding to. Contrary to what one might think from reading a few posts above I wasn’t nominating him for the Ballon D’Or
He has though. 2 goals against Cardiff and getting snapped for a penalty doesn’t change that. He doesn’t make a positive impact enough as an advanced midfielder to warrant consistently starting over others in that role.
Ashbee was written off 3 times also. Slater. Is young and developing still. Who knows what he can be for us? He probably doesn't get into a fully fit side currently, but he's doing OK as a squad player for me at least.
Slater has tidy feet and can pick a pass if you give him 5 seconds to do so, but he’s not physical or technically gifted enough to consistently effect games, so he floats in and out of games. Quite often a full half will go by and I wonder if he’s even on the pitch. He’s a decent squad player (or should be), who can do a job in a number of roles, and with plenty of time for improvement, but I don’t think he’s good enough for where we want to be.
You've got me the wrong way around there. I was saying we basically never "don't dominate possession". As you've highlighted, under Rosenior it doesn't really happen. So if Woods and Seri are only an issue when we don't have much possession, it shouldn't ever really be an issue.
People keep saying it's only two goals and a penalty, but which players have done more than that in recent weeks? Who is scoring or creating more than that?
Fair point but for me when he’s in an advanced role he could be doing so much more. He does a lot in the deeper role, and was playing at a good level early doors, now he’s in and out of games and not really providing that link from front to back at a good level nor is he providing defensive output from the front other than pressing. We have genuine forwards sat on the bench who we turn out noses up at for him despite them never getting a run like he’s had in that role.
Perhaps they aren't getting the run because they don't show as much as him in training or perform to the level Rosenior expects when out on the pitch, while Slater does?
Yeah it’s all valid, training is obviously very important but in my opinion in the advanced role he’s not upto it and I know players like Doc are very good trainers so it’s just where do you draw the line with persisting with it
You're definitely right that he is not a creative player, so it's not normal to be having him on the wing or at #10. Nor is it normal for players like Smith or Docherty to be there. But it seems to be what our management thinks is our best bet at the moment, which does make me concerned about the merits of Sinik. It'll be interesting to see whether he and/or Tufan start against Blackpool.
The one thing Tufan is guilty of, and Liam touch on it in his post-match interview is Tufan for their goal was dispossessed too easily and why Slater and Smith are starting ahead of him, they press and do a lot of work most fans fail to see. However, playing in the advanced role should suit him better, and if he does lose the ball high up the pitch, as he did Saturday, then others should have time to make sure it doesn't give a goal away. As you say he is our best goal threat at the moment, and against Blackpool we should start both him and Sinik
